Teaching
PY3P02, Part 1: Electromagnetic Theory (3rd year, 15 lectures with examination)
Syllabus: Vector operators, Divergence and Stokes' theorems; Coulomb's and Gauss' Laws; dipoles and polarisation; electric susceptibility and
displacement vector ; polar dielectrics and Langevin analysis; potential and electric energy density; electrostatic boundary conditions and
method of images; Biot-Savart and Ampere's Laws; magnetic dipole and magnetisation; H vector ; vector potential; magnetic energy density;
magnetostatic boundary conditions; dia, para and ferro magnetism; Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction; magnetoelectric induction;
Maxwell's equations; plane waves; Poynting vector.
PY3P04, Part II: Physics of Semiconductors (3rd year, 15 lectures with examination)
Syllabus: Introduction to semiconductors. Charge carrier densities and Fermi level. Intrinsic and extrinsic conductivity, doping with impurities.
Carrier transport: drift, mobility, diffusion. Motion in magnetic fields: Hall effect and Cyclotron Resonance. Optical processes, optical
absorption. Generation and recombination, minority carrier lifetime, photoconductivity. Non-equilibrium transport of charge carriers, the
continuity equation. Inhomogeneous doping. The pn junction diode: depletion layer, built-in potential, electric field, current flow. Uses of
diodes.
PY4TP1 Practical in Theoretical Physics Part I: Problem-Solving – (4th year, 9 tutorials with examination)
Syllabus: Techniques for using physics knowledge to solve general problems will be developed.
PY4TP1 Practical in Theoretical Physics, Part II: Project (4th year, coordination, chairing 9 seminars, and supervising one or two groups of
students, with reports and oral examinations)
Syllabus: In the first 9 weeks of Michaelmas term students, working in pairs, carry out a computational or theoretical project in the School of
Physics.
PY2P10/P20/N10/N20 Practical Laboratory (2nd year, 15 3-hour laboratory sessions)
All SF students are required to attend one 3-hour laboratory session each week. A series of experiments is provided to illustrate some key
results presented in the lecture courses. Three experiments during the year are computational exercises. The experiments are longer than in
the JF year and are designed to continue the development of personal initiative as well as experimental and computational skills. Students
prepare written reports on these experiments, which are assessed during the year.
PY1P10/P20/N10/N20 Small Group Tutorials (1st year, 22 tutorials)
Every student is assigned to a particular member of staff, as one of a small group of 4-6 students. Tutorials are held every two weeks, and are
intended to introduce the students to College and the School, and to provide a forum for discussion of topics in physics. Students are
encouraged to suggest topics themselves, and have an opportunity to bring any problems they are having to the attention of the member of
staff who leads their group.